Clive Bibby: Back to work for some - surfboards for those we pay for.

Yesterday, l made one of my increasingly irregular trips to the big smoke.

Gisborne is 45 minutes away from our humble dwelling which is slowly emerging from the devastation left in the wake of Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle.

Our house is on a hill overlooking the moonscape of silt and debris that has, until recently, been a common sight on adjacent properties here in this river valley. However the signs of recovery evident from the front veranda gives one reason for hope that we are gradually returning to normal - whatever that might look like.

Roger Partridge: How to build back better (and how not to)

Building back better was a common catch-cry as the country looked ahead to the post-Covid economy. And why not, you might think. Who would want to build back worse?

Unsurprisingly, building back better is a prevalent plea in the aftermath of this year’s catastrophic weather events. No one should quarrel with this. Cyclone Gabrielle showed shortcomings in New Zealand's infrastructure resilience which are both plain and painful to see.

But planning for better and more robust infrastructure like roads, rail, and essential utilities is one thing. Planning a better economy is another thing entirely.

Kate Hawkesby: Cyclone Gabrielle: 'Our optimistic and resilient nature also prevents us from complaining and asking the questions that need to be asked'

Someone wrote to me over the weekend and made a really good point after I talked about the resilience of people last Friday. 

They said it was true, that often times a disaster can bring out the best in people or —as we're seeing with the looters— the worst, in some cases. But they made the point that a part of that optimistic and resilient nature also prevents us from complaining because we don’t want to appear as whingers when there’s always someone worse off. 

But as a result of that, they pointed out, the focus can shift away from questions that need to be asked. And as a resident of Hawkes Bay, these were his questions: what are the three things you need to be working in a disaster? Communications, power and roads, he said. What failed in Hawkes Bay, and continues to fail in many parts: communications, power and roads. 

Cam Slater: Time to Swing the Axe on Government Spending

As the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle starts to be fully understood, it is going to force the government into making some unpalatable decisions that will affect its re-election chances. But they are decisions that will have to be made, and made sooner rather than later.

In an article we published on the weekend we heard from Nick Stewart, who lives in the Hawke’s Bay, just how much damage there is, not only to public infrastructure but also to private housing, farming and agriculture. The orchard industry in the region is worth approximately $6 billion to New Zealand in exports. That is now almost completely destroyed.

I know of one orchardist who has lost more than 100 hectares of apple trees. There are many other tales like this. Vineyards are buried under metres of silt, the Esk Valley is destroyed and many other agricultural production business are devastated.